Snape's mission

[Jim Flanagan]

No: HPFGUIDX 15832

I suspect that V already knows that Crouch jr is dead:  

1. A dementor administered the kiss, and they are listed as among V's 
natural allies. I don't know how dementors communicate, but it's 
possible that they can feed information to V now that he's back.

2. Maybe V can remotely sense that the "aura" (or whatever) of one of 
his supporters is gone. Auras aren't really supported by canon 
(except Trelawney), but JKR has been known to pull stranger stuff out 
of her, uh, hat.

3. Consider Fudge as a possible conduit of information (wittingly or 
otherwise). The Minister seems very hinky at the end of both POA and 
GOF, so he *could* be a spy.  If he's not a spy, then he probably 
wrote a detailed report the minute he got back to the MOM, since he's 
obviously a big Hufflepuff who follows rules.  And of course, the MOM 
is probably as leaky as a sieve -- wouldn't McNair, the 
MOM's "executioner" be told about Crouch jr's fate?

4. There was a lot of shouting and carrying on after Dumbledore found 
out that Crouch had been smooched by the dementor. Anyone could have 
overheard what they were saying. Could Rita Skeeter have been 
listening in? One of the students who happened to be in the infirmary 
recovering from a skint elbow? What about M Pomfrey -- what do we 
*really* know about her?

5. Finally, whatever communications there were between V and Crouch 
would stop abruptly.  If contacts were infrequent, then it might take 
V some time to notice, but he surely would miss them by the start of 
the Fall term.

In short, I wouldn't bet my life on Voldemort's ignorance.

-JF


--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:

<snip>
No one in V's camp knows he's been found 
out by Dumbledore, forced to tell the story, and Kissed--unless 
there's a spy at Hogwarts. (cue ominous music)

Amy Z